After the Warehouse
by KawaiiPsycho101
Summary: Written for the 2017 Secret Shinigami Exchange. Major spoilers for the end of the series & Near's real name. Rated T for minor violence & character death. An alternate take of the events immediately after those at the Yellow Box Warehouse on Jan. 28, 2013.


_Written for the 2017 Secret Shinigami Exchange, for SlytherinPirate. Spoilers for the end of the series._

 _I'm not proud of this one, but I felt I should share it with everyone else, just in case. This was written at the last minute and it shows, and for that I am truly sorry. Anyway, I hope you enjoy._

* * *

It was over.

After six long years, Kira's reign had finally come to an end, although there were only eight people in the world who knew this for a fact. They were gathered in a warehouse near Daikoku Wharf known as the Yellow Box. Their names were Touta Matsuda, Kanzo Mogi, Shuichi Aizawa, Hideki Ide, Hal Bullook, Stephen Loud, Anthony Carter, and Nate River (although he preferred to be called 'Near'). The bodies of the serial killer known as Kira, Light Yagami, and his loyal follower, Teru Mikami, had just been taken away by the paramedics. A pile of gasoline-soaked notebooks lay at the group's feet. Near lit a match and threw it on the pile. It went up instantly. They all watched the fire burn and listened to the flames crackle in silence.

Once the notebooks were nothing put a pile of ashes, a tall broad American man put out the blaze with an extinguisher.

"So," Aizawa said, "That's it, then."

"Yes," Near nodded, "It's over."

"What are we going to tell their families?"

Matsuda visibly stiffened.

"I'll leave that up to you, just as long as it's not the truth; the events of today must never leave this room, no matter what."

"He's right," Ide muttered, "Even if we did tell, no one would ever believe us."

"True." Near gathered his finger-puppets and stood up. "We'll contact you if we ever need your assistance again. Goodbye."

And with that, everyone parted ways.

* * *

"Well, that's the last of it."

Stephen sealed the last of the boxes containing all the information the SPK had gathered during their side of the Kira investigation. Near had asked him and Hal to clear out the headquarters and their computers while he and Commander Carter went back to the United States. They were probably just now reaching the airport.

"Finally," his companion sighed, exhausted. "I'll take these boxes and you can take those. We should be able to do it in one trip."

"Right."

Together, they made their way to the elevator, arms loaded with boxes and suitcases. As the doors closed behind them and the small shuttle began its descent from the twenty-seventh floor of the hotel, Hal turned to her colleague.

"Stephen?"

"Hmm?"

"I was wondering-"

 _SNAP!_

She never got to finish her sentence.

The elevator plunged down the shaft, reaching speeds that made the passengers of the inside of the chamber experience what almost felt like weightlessness. The two dropped what they were holding and held onto the railing tightly. As the ground floor neared, Stephen reached out and grabbed Hal, pulling her towards him. He wrapped his arms around her, hoping that maybe she would survive if he absorbed most of the impact for her.

In the end, it didn't matter.

It would take the authorities a few days to identify the remains, and they would later deem the accident the result of a one-a-million malfunction.

* * *

While Hal Bullook and Stephen Loud were on their way to the elevator, Hideki Ide was unlocking the front door of his house. He and Mogi had just finished clearing out the Japanese Task Force's own headquarters for the Kira investigation while Matsuda and Aizawa went to break the news of Light's death to his mother and younger sister, along with his fiancé and former second Kira, Misa Amane. They had all decided to tell them that Light had been killed by Kira, while Mikami's few friends and family would be told that he had committed suicide after suffering a nervous breakdown. It wasn't very far from the truth.

Ide had admired the way Matsuda had volunteered to be the one to inform them of Light's demise. He had reasoned that since he was already a well-liked acquaintance of the family, it only seemed natural that he be the one to tell them, even though it was clear to everyone that it was the last thing on Earth he wanted to do. Aizawa had probably sensed this as well, for he quickly volunteered to go as well.

 _Bzzzt-bzzzt._

Ide was knocked out of his thoughts by the vibrations of his cell phone in his front pocket, which he quickly answered.

"Hello?"

"Ide? It's Fukawa," Akira Fukawa was the current chief of the National Police Agency. "There's been an accident at the Plaza Hotel. Apparently one of the elevators malfunctioned and fell over twenty stories. At least two people are dead. I want you to go over there and check it out. I know you're off duty, but you're the closet one to the Plaza right now."

Ide wanted to tell the Chief to find someone else to do it, that he'd had his fair share of death for one day, but since he couldn't, all he did was sigh and say that he'd be there as soon as he could. As he headed back to his car, he noticed two small boys playing a game of soccer in the front yard of the house across the street from his. One of them kicked the ball too hard, sending it into the street. The other one ran blindly after it, unaware of the truck speeding down the road.

Before he knew it, he was sprinting towards the child. The last thing he saw before the truck struck him was the boy's body being hurled back onto his lawn from the force of Ide's push.

* * *

Kanzo Mogi chucked back his fifth shot of scotch with a grimace. He was sitting in his second-floor bedroom, trying to get the image of a bleeding and screaming Light Yagami out of his head. So far, it seemed that it would take all the alcohol on the planet just to dim the picture a little. He decided that maybe a bath would calm his nerves a little.

As he was undressing, he heard his phone ringing in the other room.

"Of course," he muttered to himself before going to answer it. He looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Matsuda. "What is it, Matsuda?"

"Mogi, there's been an accident! Ide's in the hospital!"

"What?!"

"He got hit by a car saving a little kid. We were just leaving Light's house when we heard. We probably won't get to the hospital for another fifteen minutes."

"I'm closer. I'll meet you there."

"Right, thanks."

Mogi quickly redressed and ran down the stairs.

It can be argued that what happened next could have been avoided had he not been drinking, but considering the rush he was in, it probably would have happened anyway, stone-cold-sober or not.

In his hurry, Mogi tripped and toppled down the stairs, splitting his head open on the bannister. Somewhere during the tumble, there was a _snap!_ and when his body came to a rest at the bottom of the staircase, his neck was bent at an unnatural angle as a pool of blood formed around him.

* * *

"He said he'd meet us there."

"Great."

Touta Matsuda and Shuichi Aizawa didn't say a word as they drove towards the hospital, instead opting to listen to the radio. According to the weather forecast, there was a nasty storm heading their way, which they both thought was rather fitting; for this had to be, without a doubt, the worst day of their lives.

As they crossed the last intersection to the hospital, the space right in front of them was struck by lightning. Temporarily stunned and blinded by the bright flash of light, Aizawa swerved into a nearby gas station parking lot, hitting one of the fuel stations and knocking one of the nozzles out of its slot, which began to pump out gasoline. After they took a moment to recover, Matsuda breathed a sigh of relief at having come out of the little misadventure unscathed, and thanked God that lightning never struck twice.

* * *

 _KRRRACCK-BOOOM!_

Near, who until a second ago had his face pressed against the passenger-side window of the plane, jumped back in shock and bumped into Anthony Carter. Up until now, he enjoyed looking out the window during take-offs and landings, watching the ground and buildings grow smaller or bigger as the plane flew higher or lower. This time had been no exception. But the sudden lightning strike was a bit off-putting.

"Are you alright, sir?"

"Yes," the boy quickly recovered, "Just surprised is all."

He looked out the window again, watching the city of Tokyo disappear from his sight.

Then there was a second lightning-strike, and for a brief second, Near could've sworn he saw an explosion out of the corner of his eye. Due to the distance, it appeared to be very tiny, which in reality meant that it had been quite large where it happened. He blinked, and he was suddenly too high up to tell if he had seen anything to begin with.

A few hours later, Near noticed a tension in the air.

Something was wrong.

The way the stewardesses and crew nervously scuttled about told him so.

There was a muffled _boom!_ from outside the plane, followed by another, and another. Red lights and alarms started to go off as the oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling.

Nate River paid no attention to the chaos unfolding around him, for he knew at that precise moment he was going to die. He didn't know if there was anything after death, and he sincerely doubted there was.

But still, he thought for the last time, it would be nice to see Mello again.

* * *

 ** _Prompt:_** _Everything stays the same, except everyone dies at the end._

 _Whether or not that last line counts as Meronia, I'll leave up to you. Thank you for reading._


End file.
